The heathland at Edgehills is a regular site for us as we continue with the birch clearance and herbicide application. The area is vast but the effects of applying the herbicide can be clearly seen now so we carry on to a new stretch of the heathland each time. There are good signs of large heather clumps appearing where we had previously cleared.

The weather was atrocious for the first few hours as there was the thickest fog hanging around and we could barely see each other but the birds were singing!

In this dense fog we had arranged to clear the birch around the little Beech tree in this photo and had to call to each other for contact!

We saw and heard quite a large flock of Crossbills later in the day.

The crossbill is a genus, Loxia, of birds in the finch family (Fringillidae), with three to five (or possibly many more) species. These birds are characterised by the mandibles with crossed tips, which gives the group its English name. Adult males tend to be red or orange in colour, and females green or yellow, but there is much variation.

Crossbills are specialist feeders on conifer cones, and the unusual bill shape is an adaptation which enables them to extract seeds from cones